U11 Inter-School Primary Competitions

The ESFA offers the Under 11 7-a-side Schools’ Cup competition to schools in affiliated membership with the English Schools’ FA, via the local District Association, for school children in Years 5 and 6, in the following categories:

  • U11 School Teams’ Cup
  • U11 Schools’ Cup for Girls
  • U11 Small Schools’ Cup

The competition was established in 1979 and regularly attracts over 3,000 boys’ teams and 2,000 girls’ teams on an annual basis, making it one of the largest schools’ football competitions in the world.

The tournament pathway is organised through, District, County and Regional competitions, which culminate in a national final which will be hosted at a Premier League or Football League stadium at the end of the season.

The ESFA U11 7v7 Schools’ Cup toolkit can be downloaded below to support local and county competition organisers; it can also be shared with the participating teams. It contains essential information such as eligibility criteria and competition rules.

District SFA rounds must be completed by Saturday 3 December 2022. Winning team details must be sent to the local County Schools’ FA secretary. 

County Finals must be completed by Saturday 28 January 2023. A county winners form has been sent directly to County Schools’ FA secretaries.

Regional Finals will be hosted by Saturday 25 March 2023. We will publish a complete list of dates and venues in due course, when the details have been confirmed. 

Please remember that only pupils in School Years 5 and 6 are eligible to take part in this competition (see attached toolkit for specific date qualifications).  Please adhere to the competition rules – failure to do so will lead to disqualification.

Risk Assessments and Insurance

A template risk assessment can be downloaded here. Tournament organisers are required to undertake a risk assessment and share it with the participating teams ahead of the event.  A copy of ESFA insurance has been shared with host Associations and is available upon request.

Safeguarding

If you have any safeguarding concerns relating to this tournament, then please contact the ESFA National Welfare Officers:

Martin Duffield – [email protected] or phone 07852 276416

Sarah DaCosta – [email protected] or phone 07855 942337

For more information contact [email protected]